Home » Articles and Reviews by 'Alex Beech'
Mad Catz unveils new C.T.R.L.i iOS 7 controller at Mobile World Congress
For a long time, Mad Catz has been known as one of the leading manufacturers of joysticks, headphones, keyboards, and gamepads. Now, at the Mobile World Congress, the company announced that it has created its first iOS 7 compatible controller - the C.T.R.L.i. Yes, we know it's a silly name. But the C.T.R.L.i's chassis has a fantastic pedigree, lifting its design directly from Mad Catz Xbox 360 acclaimed MLG Pro Circuit controller. Providing there are no changes to this core design, the new pad should have a great build quality and responsive keys – though its size could be a worry for on-the-go gamers. If its size doesn't put you off, there are a number of changes to the pad in its…
iOSHookshot platformer Mikey Hooks now supports iOS controllers
If, like us, you are a fan of Mikey Hooks, then you will know that its fast-paced action already handled incredibly well using the touchscreen controls. However, that hasn't stopped developer BeaverTap from patching in additional support for iOS compatible controllers. There is now a fairly decent range of controllers available for iPhones, including the MOGA Ace Power, and the Logitech PowerShell. But, if you are looking for something to use across all of your iOS devices, the SteelSeries Stratus maybe your best bet. Connecting via Bluetooth, the controller is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPods - provided they're running iOS 7, of course. If you already have Mikey Hooks a…
Dual Survivor is waiting on the App Store to split your mind in two
Brain busting action-puzzler Dual Survivor is now live on the App Store. This co-ordination challenging vertical-scrooler has guiding two ships through parallel mazes simultaneously. You take control of each craft with a thumb, and must trace the line you want your ships to take across the twin floating paths. But like patting your head while rubbing your stomach, each simple task will fast become infuriating. Focus too much on navigate one ship past a jump or obstacle, and your other ship will be a pile of sci-fi rubble before you can say "I hate multitasking." The architecture doesn't make things any easier. The paths your ships are zooming down are pulsing, colourful…
Comedy-horror text adventure Zombocalypse Now shambles onto the iPhone and iPad
Comedy-inflected horror adventure Zombocalypse Now has just smeared itself all over the App Store. The latest interactive story from Tin Man Games, the gruesome read-'em-up offers a cuddly - but bloodstained - look at the end of days. Cast as a stuffed rabbit on a date, you immediately notice something isn't right when your potential paramour turns out to be a zombie. Turns out the apocalypse can strike at any time, and, when it does, you have to take decisive action. Or perhaps you don't, as Zombocalypse Now leaves all the choices up to you. Do you ditch your undead-date and see how it goes, or chainsaw her to bits? The branching adventure game will present you with decisions like th…
Card Wars - Adventure Time Review
Cartoon Network has taken the inspiration for Card Wars – Adventure Time from a card game seen in the cult cartoon. But, while its reflexive self-referencing makes our heads hurt, it manages to be a fairly decent customisable card game - with one major caveat. The basics will be familiar to CCG fans: you use cards to summon creatures to fight for you, in an effort to reduce your opponent's health to zero. The set up stage sees you laying terrain down across four lanes. Th…
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Super Smash Bros-style brawler Fright Fight now live around the world
Horror-flavoured multiplayer brawler Fright Fight has been causing a ruckus on the New Zealand App Store for a while now. However, the free-to-play Super Smash Bros.-inspired fighter has just gone global, finally hitting North American and European shores. Fright Fight is all about pitting classic horror icons against one another in pitched battle. The game's four-player online mode allows you to have a free-for-all with up to three other fighters, including a vampire, a yeti, and the Grim Reaper. You control your character's movement and abilities though a series of simple swipes and taps. With only a couple of attacks to fall back on, however, the move list does feel a little l…
Tree Wars Review
Until now, we weren't aware of any animosity between squirrels and beavers. But, according to Funday Factory's new 2D tower defence game Tree Wars, the rivalry between these species runs deep. This age-old battle stems from the squirrels home, the Tree of Life. As the name suggests, the arboreal homestead is quite important, and the little red rodents are sworn to protect it from the tree-munching beavers. The result of this confrontation is an odd blend of cute and cruel,…
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Naughty Kitties Review
If we had to describe Naughty Kitties in a pithy phrase, I guess we'd called it a 'tower-defence endless-flyer.' And, by smushing these seemingly disconnected genres together, Coconut Island Games has created an exciting, fast-paced strategy title. As with all endless-style games, the goal of Naughty Kitties is to travel as far as possible to earn experience and climb the leaderboard. In Naughty Kitties however, you are asked not to guide your avatar past obstacles, b…
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Pop-up adventure game Tengami unfurling on the App Store tonight
Nyamyam is set to release its beautiful pop-up adventure game Tengami onto the App Store tonight at midnight Tengami has had us excited since we first set eyes on it a few days ago. With beautiful Japanese paper craft art and atmospheric pop-up book style, this puzzle-adventure game instantly stands out with its . The handcrafted style is more than just aesthetic, however. You have to grab and swipe the environment itself to turn each page and move from one scene to the next. You also interact directly with the objects within the world, folding and unfolding them to uncover their secrets. Tengami's plot also plays into its storybook theme, taking you through a collection of traditional…
Bigger worlds and cute puppies coming to Minecraft – Pocket Edition
Whether you spend your time in Minecraft - Pocket Edition building tall towers or excavating mines, the promise of new content is always good news. Good news, then, as Mojang has just confirmed that the next big update for Minecraft - Pocket Edition is on its way to iOS. The update will focus on improving the game's code, allowing the game to generate even bigger worlds for you to explore. The Pocket Team is also working on a host of other tweaks, including improved AI, an updated inventory system, and new animals. This announcement also came with some bad news for beta testers of Pocket: Realms, the new Minecraft service designed to improve online play. It turns out that testing for th…
Riot Runners is the latest monochrome auto-runner to hit the App Store
Room 8's new endless-runner Riot Runners just hit the App Store. This stylish, silhouetted runner pits a group resistance fighter robots against evil, automated overlords. These freedom fighters must run for their lives from their oppressors, jumping – and double jumping – over a range of obstacles, and gathering coins along the way. The moody black-and-white art style makes the tiny steampunk robots look adorable, especially when set against the dark, industrialised world that surrounds them. Though you start with a single protagonist, you can unlock additional characters with different powers as you progress. These new automatons are bought using currency collected in game…
Only One Review
Only One's developer, Ernest Szoka, seems to understand that, sometimes, the simplest ideas can be the best. Starting with a basic top-down hack-and-slash format, he has tweaked the concept just enough to turn it into something wonderful. Only One is an arena brawler which throws waves of increasingly difficult enemies at you, and challenges you to be the last one standing. Beating your foes is not complicated - a simple slash of your sword usually gets the job done. But this ap…
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Control a super-powered, dancing Abraham Lincoln in Second Chance Heroes
Have you ever looked at a game and thought that the designers just put every crazy idea they had in a single barmy projecy and hoped that it would work? Rocket City Studios seem to have done just that with their new free-to-play title Second Chance Heroes. We can imagine the design meeting now. The lead designer probably led with: "Guys - we should make a Diablo style game with looting," before a few eager new team members piped up with: "Oh! It should have historical figures, and Abraham Lincoln should hurl tornadoes." All before an intern chipped in with: "Dancing! There should be combat dancing!" The result is a feature list that reads like a fever dream, but which definitel…
LEGO® Star Wars™: Microfighters Review
The latest Lego game to hit iOS, Lego Star Wars: Microfighters, tries to combine two massive properties - Lego and Star Wars - in the form of a vertical shump. Despite the collective might of huge brands, however, Microfighters never manages to rise above the mundane. All of the game's craft are based on the Star Wars Microfighters toys, which appear as stylishly scaled down interpretations of the movie craft they represent. There are fleets of tiny A-Wings, AT AT-Battle Tanks,…
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Apple tells new games with 'Flappy' in their titles to flap off
It has been an odd few weeks on the App Store. First, after reaching critical mass – and making a lot of money - Flappy Birds was removed from the App Store by creator Doug Nguyen. Now it seems that Apple is rejecting games with word 'flappy' in their title. The company's strict new line over the use of 'flappy' came to light over the weekend, when Mind Juice Media's Ken Carpenter tweeted about the rejection of his new creation, Flappy Dragon, from the App Store. Apple directed the developer to the App Store review guidelines. Specifically, the App Store custodian highlighted guideline number 22.2, which states "Apps that contain false, fraudulent or misleading representations will b…
